In Latin America and the Caribbean, 10-15% of school-aged children live with disabilities or learning difficulties, making inclusive education both a moral responsibility and an economic imperative. With 12.5-18.9 million children at risk of being left behind, inclusive education— in which children with and without disabilities learn together—offers a crucial path to ensuring … [Read more...] about Bridging the Gap: Inclusive Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
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Handing Out Laptops Is Not Enough to Improve Student Learning
In 2012, we published a study showing that an ambitious and expensive program involving the disbursement of free laptops to primary school students generated few academic gains after 15 months of laptop exposure. The report, examining the One Laptop per Child initiative launched by Peru's government, generated much discussion in Peru and around the world given that many … [Read more...] about Handing Out Laptops Is Not Enough to Improve Student Learning
Signaling Students’ Skills for Greater Fairness and Productivity
A degree from an elite university—like good grades and honors degrees—often serves as a signal of superior talent, a beacon that guides employers through a sea of candidates to the allegedly most desirable hire. Such bias in favor of the elite, however, can disadvantage highly skilled and talented people who attend less renowned schools or groups like migrants, who often … [Read more...] about Signaling Students’ Skills for Greater Fairness and Productivity
Disabilities, the Pandemic, and the Pursuit of Tertiary Education
Over the last two decades, Chile has made efforts to boost educational inclusion in schools among young people with disabilities, extending opportunities to this vulnerable group which tends to have lower labor force participation, employment and wages in part because of a significant educational gap. Today, around two-thirds of students with disabilities attend mainstream … [Read more...] about Disabilities, the Pandemic, and the Pursuit of Tertiary Education
Leveraging Technology to Reduce Student Dropout and Improve Learning
Latin America and the Caribbean is in the midst of an educational crisis. Though enrollment in primary school has grown and today is nearly universal, average completion rates for secondary school stand at 64 percent compared to an average of 79 percent for OECD countries. Moreover, only 35 percent of 15-year-old students in Latin America attain minimum competency in math, way … [Read more...] about Leveraging Technology to Reduce Student Dropout and Improve Learning